Afternoon Reading List 09.17.13.

MSNBC reporter tries his best, fails: When tragic events occur, like the shootings that transpired yesterday at D.C.’s Naval Yard, reporters are expected to deliver each breaking news story with incredible delicacy, while maintaining the highest level of journalistic professionalism. According to an story posted yesterday by Jeff Poor of TheDaily Caller, MSNBC reporter Luke Russert sort of just winged it while reporting live from outside the Washington Hospital Center. Seconds before the feed was lost (due to “technical issues,” or hopefully the result of actions taken by a quick thinking producer), Russert made this awkward statement: “The doctor told us that they had reports of more deceased victims who will not receive care obviously because they were deceased.” There you have it! Russert has finally cleared the air about the medical community’s controversial stance on providing medical care to the deceased (they’re still against it).

Why you should read this article/watch this news clip: It’s pretty hilarious. You can almost hear the guy in the news van shouting obscenities into Russert’s ear piece just moments before he yanks all of the wires out of the satellite feed, killing the transmission.

Media misreports identity of gunman: The competition within the media to be the first to break a news story is incredible. Yesterday, in a race to identify the gunman terrorizing the Navy Yard, CBS News and NBC News were first to give the world a name behind the madness. But it was the wrong name, and they were forced to retract their previous report. Last night, Rem Rieder of USA Today wrote about their flubs in a story on the media’s track record for misreporting stories. In his post, Rieder details past instances of the media reporting misinformation during high-profile events. It seems to be a recurring trend.

Why you should read this article: If you ever find yourself breaking a story that seems too good to be true, it probably is.

More on Piers Morgan shouting at people…

Guns and Piers Morgan don’t mix: Sparked by the tragic events that transpired in Washington yesterday, Piers Morgan slammed his conservative, pro-gun panelists on his show last night. According to a Politico article written this morning by editorial assistant Lucy McCalmont, Piers shouted at his guests over their stance on gun laws, to the point that panelist John Lott shouted, “Yelling isn’t going to make those numbers right!” Piers ended his side of the argument with a chilling forecast by saying “I just cannot have the debate anymore. It is ridiculous, do something about it. And the three gentlemen that just came on, think about your position! …More guns is not the answer! Anyway, we’ll leave it until the next time because there will be the next time.”

Why you should read this article: All in all, pretty entertaining and regardless of which side you’re on regarding gun law reform, it’s worth checking out.

Media’s biggest fan to media- “STOP fucking up.”: Multi-Emmy nominated producer Jon Hotchkiss loves the media. According to Hotchkiss, he’s media’s biggest fan because they’ve been there for him through thick and thin, through the highs and lows, through the parties and the hangovers, and that’s the reason why he wrote this letter, addressed to the media, which was published in HuffPost earlier today. In it, Hotchkiss confesses his long standing love for the medium of news, and even writes the piece as though he were writing fan mail to his favorite 70’s rock band who just keep putting out classic records. But then he lets the media know just exactly how he feels towards the way they handled yesterday’s tragedy with their rampant misreporting. He pulls no punches and censors no F-bombs.

Why you should read this article: Maybe he’s talking about you, maybe he’s not. But why not find out?

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